Chowgirls reached a small business milestone on March 12, 2009 — we turned 5! In the five years we’ve been in business, we’ve gone from
- 2 kitchen employees (Heidi & Amy) to 20
- 2 lovely servers from the Czech Republic (Jana & Andrea) to 20 lovely servers from all over the world
- 3 oven racks to 24
- 6-foot hood to 18-foot hood
- 0 walk-in coolers to 1 walk-in cooler
- 1 event a month to 7 weddings in one day
Thanks to everyone who has helped make this happen, especially our husbands Eric and Chank (who were our first grill guys) and dedicated staff. Our managers Truman and Maari have helped us through many growing pains. Our kitchen staff, particularly Annie, Marvel, Liz, Ranon, Scotty, Devin, Robbie, and Booty, are incredibly dedicated and have all contributed in their own unique ways.
Our office manager Melissa has increased our professionalism immensely and she is a delight to work with. Marc’s bar experience has been invaluable as have Laurie’s scheduling and site management abilities. All of our site managers, including Joanne, Casey, and Danielle, are stellar performers. And we love all the fun and interesting individuals who have contributed as servers.
Thanks to all the friends and business partners who have supported our business and helped it grow: Lynn Olson and Frank Stone of the Frank Stone Gallery have had faith in us from the beginning, as friends lending their gallery for their launch party and then as landlords assisting us with a kitchen build-out. Our investors whom shall remain nameless also made it possible to build the new place. Dean Davidson and Elizabeth Gunn of East Bank have renewed our faith in banking locally. The Chank Company housed our first office for a year. Greg & John Pillsbury were immensely helpful and patient in turning over their old Burrito Loco for our first full-time kitchen. And our friends at Uncle Franky’s were kind enough to purchase our used equipment from that same space a couple years later. Dan from The Times generously rented the Jitters kitchen to us to help us get our license and have an official place to cook. John Kremer & Jennifer Young, Jenny & Elwin Loomis, and Debbie Woodward have all offered support and advice at just the right times. Carolyn Payne of Olive Salon continues to refer tons of business our way. And Chuck Hermes, Nancy Lyons, and Michael & Kurt Koppelman of Clockwork have been great systems advisors as well as tremendous clients
A big part of Chowgirls is our brand identity. Thanks to Amy’s brother Nathan Brown for taking Amy’s initial logo concept and creating an unforgettable logo and web site. Thanks to my husband Chank Diesel for the original and custom fonts that are essential to our identity. Thanks to Jeff Johnson of Spunk for designing awesome signage and Sarah Nelson Forss for creating the best brochure ever. All of you have set high standards that we measure all other designers against.
I’m sure after I post this I’ll think of more people I should have noted. And I’m certain Amy will have more thanks and more people in mind, but she’s on maternity leave without internet. So out this goes into the ether with my biggest heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you, including those I may have not noted. You’ve all got some good karma headed your way!
Best,
Heidi
